Sterilizing apparatus



(No Model.)

J. W. GURRIER. STERILIZING APPARATUS.

No. 580,081. Patented Apr. 6; 1897 HTTY.

UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN W. OURRIER, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

STERILIZING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 580,081, dated April 6, 1897.

A li atio {fl d December 14, 1896. Serial No. 615,612. (No model.)

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN W. OURRIER, residing inBoston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Sterilizing Apparatus, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters and figures on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention is an improvement in apparatus for sterilizing instruments such as are employed by dentists, and has for its object to increase the sterilizing efficiency of the said apparatus.

In apparatus of the character described the instruments are placed in hot water contain ed in a small vessel or boiler and are therein sterilized more or less.

In accordance wit-h this invention the boiler referred to is provided with a receptacle or box which is preferably detachable from the said boiler and which is designed to be substantially filled with sand. The sand box or receptacle is provided with a cover which is normally kept closed to prevent the sand cooling.

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partially broken away, of one form of sterilizing apparatus embodying this invention; Fig. 2, a front elevation of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1, looking toward the right; and Fig. 3, ahorizontal section on the line 3 3, Fig. 2, with the sandbox partly uncovered.

Referring to the drawings, A represents a vessel or boiler designed to contain water, which is heated to the boiling-point by a gas or other burner a of any suitable or desired construction. The boiler A is supported, as herein shown, upon an annular frame B, provided with legs I), and the said boiler is provided with a cover I).

The water in the boiler A is heated to the boiling-point, and the dental or other instruments are placed in said boiling water and sterilized. The instruments when withdrawn from the boiling water are usually wiped by the operator upon a towel or other fabric, which act may nullify or decrease the effect of sterilizing the instrument.

In order to insure the instrument which is removed from the boiler being perfectly sterilized when used, I have provided a sterilizing-bath of fine and selected sand at, which is contained in a box or receptacle a preferably detachably secured to the boiler A. The box or receptacle a is shown in the pres ent instance as substantially crescent-shaped and is attached to the boiler with its inner side 2 in contact with the outside of the boiler, so that the bath a of sand may be quickly heated.

The box or receptacle a may be attached to the boiler A, as herein shown, by means of side arms a d of spring metal, which engage the inner side of metal clips or cars a a attached to the boiler, the bottom of the box a resting, as shown, on the bottom flange a of the boiler, or it may be upon the frame B.

The box a is provided witha cover 19 which is herein shown as secured at one end by a pivot-pin b to the sand-box, so that the cover may be swung back into the position shown in Fig. 3 when it is desired to sterilize the instruments in the hot sand. Normally the box a is closed by its cover, so as to retain the sand hot.

In operation the instruments sterilized in the boiler are plunged or inserted into the hot sand and are both sterilized, dried, and cleansed of any bacteria which may adhere to them when they are withdrawn from the boiler, and in this way the instruments are placed in the most sanitary condition when withdrawn from the sand-bath.

I claim 1. In a sterilizing apparatus, the combination with a boiler, of a sand-bath attached thereto, substantially as described.

2. In a sterilizing apparatus, the combination with a boiler A, of a sand-containin g box or receptacle a detaohably secured to said boiler to be heated thereby, substantially as described.

3. In a sterilizing apparatus, the combination with a boiler A provided with the clips or cars a a of a detachable sand box or receptacle provided with a cover and with side arms a a to engage the said clips or ears, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN W. OURRIER.

Witnesses:

J AS. H. CHURCHILL, J. MURPHY. 

